Sisters Three
by Komillia
Summary: The story of three sisters and of how the dramatic events of human life bring them together and break them apart.
1. Of Slytherins and Ravenclaws

**

Sisters Three   
Chapter 1: Of Slytherins and Ravenclaws

**

_April 8th 2004: This chapter has been updated. A very big thank you goes to my beta reader, who has done an excellent job with the spellchecking and britpicking of this chapter. :)_

***

It wasn't her fault that she fell. Some muggle had thrown litter on the ground, not caring about how rude it was and she had just happened to step and slip on it. But that was clearly not the impression that her oldest sister had gotten. 

"Narcissa, we are already late, it would help if you didn't slow down and occasionally trip," Bellatrix Black pointed out as she effortlessly pulled the little girl up on her feet. Once standing normally, Narcissa brushed dirt off her new, champagne coloured, and what used to be clean, dress as well as she could. But as usual, it didn't help as the dress had already acquired ugly, brown marks. 

"Oh, my dress..." Narcissa said quietly, frowning. Then she looked at Bellatrix, whose facial expression wasn't too different from the stern tone that her voice had had. "I tripped, Bella! And…" she leaned slightly closer, "...with all these muggles here... It's making me nervous." 

"Nervous about what? The muggles are harmless," a third voice said gently. This one came from Andromeda Black, the middle sister in the family. She had turned around and walked back when she saw that both her sisters had stopped walking for some unknown reason. 

"Andromeda, ever the muggle lover," Bellatrix commented sarcastically as she gave a small nod to two men standing behind the sisters. They were currently pushing the trolleys, weighed down by the trunks and owl cages that belonged to all three sisters. Upon her nod, the men continued to walk and push the trolleys towards their destination. 

"Not a muggle lover, just someone who doesn't want to miss the train," Andromeda replied defensively, even though she knew that Bellatrix was only teasing her. Glancing quickly at Narcissa, she began to walk down the platform, eyes looking for a familiar spot. 

"You wouldn't want to miss the train either, would you?" Bellatrix asked Narcissa with an almost evil smile on her face. "Imagine the thought of another year with Mrs Gable and her-" 

"Oh, don't even talk about her!" Narcissa exclaimed, her walking pace increasing rapidly shortly afterwards. "I couldn't stand another year alone with her while you two were off at Hogwarts having all sorts of fun! Mrs Gable is the most evil, ugly, old..." 

Her voice faded away as Bellatrix suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Narcissa gave her a curious look and was just about to ask what was going on when she noticed that neither Andromeda nor the men with their trunks were to be seen. She whirled around, hoping that they were standing behind her for some reason even if they had walked ahead of her. But all she saw were lots of muggles, walking back and forth between platforms, getting on and off trains while looking at small mechanisms attached to a leather band tied to their wrist. 

"Bella, where's Andromeda?" Narcissa asked, panic in her usual cheery voice. "I can't see them at a...!" 

Her voice was muffled by Bellatrix's gloved hand, which she had put over Narcissa's mouth. Before she knew it, Bellatrix had quickly dragged her towards a cement pillar in the middle of her platform. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her head, for to her it seemed like Bellatrix was going to ram her head into the cement. But no contact with the hard, cold cement came, neither did sharp pain in her head. Bellatrix removed her hand from Narcissa's mouth. 

Opening her eyes, Narcissa saw that she was standing in a completely different place. She was still standing on a platform, but there was only one train waiting and by the looks of it, she could tell that it was the train that was going to take her to Hogwarts. Not that far away from them was Andromeda supervising the men while they loaded the trunks off the trolley. Realizing what had just happened, she slapped Bellatrix lightly on her arm. 

"That was mean of you, I thought that you were going to ram my head into it!" Narcissa cried. Bellatrix just laughed amusedly at her sister's outburst. 

"I knew that if I told you to go through the barrier on your own you'd just take ages before you'd dare to try to just move your finger through it," Bellatrix laughed and walked towards Andromeda. Still a little angry with her sister, Narcissa followed silently. By the time they reached Andromeda, all the luggage had already was already on the train, which was leaving in a few minutes. 

"Should we get on then?" Andromeda suggested. She looked towards other pupils, some she recognized and some were unfamiliar. But most of them had someone that none of the sisters had. Someone to say goodbye to. 

"No reason not to..." Bellatrix mumbled and got on the train. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that her sisters were following her. Narcissa took a long look over the platform just like Andromeda had, realizing the same thing her sister had done. 

"I think it's very inconsiderate of father to not come and say goodbye to us," Narcissa commented as she got on the train, followed by Andromeda. 

"He said goodbye last night," Andromeda reminded her and the subject ended right there. 

It didn't take long for them to find a compartment, they were lucky enough to find one that was empty. Running her hand through her black hair, Bellatrix took a deep breath before she took her seat. Andromeda, who was the last to enter, shut the compartment door and sat down right across from her and next to Narcissa. 

The Hogwarts Express took off two minutes later, leaving King's Cross and misty-eyed parents waving to their children from the platform behind. Soon, the only thing they could see when they looked out of the window was the green landscape and occasional building. Bellatrix had occupied herself with staring out the window, whether she was actually looking at something or thinking about something, they didn't know. 

"I wonder which house you'll end up in," Andromeda said after a while to break the silence. Bellatrix tore her gaze away from the window and looked at her. 

"Let's hope that the bloody Sorting Hat puts this sister in the best house," she remarked, although there was a small hint of a smile on her lips. Andromeda smiled back. 

Bellatrix could never forget the fact that she and Andromeda weren't in the same house. Last year Andromeda had been sorted into Ravenclaw, breaking the long line of Slytherins that the Black family was so known for. Although Ravenclaw was a good house, second only to Slytherin in Bellatrix's opinion, she would have preferred to have her sister with her in Slytherin. 

"Ravenclaw doesn't sound bad..." Narcissa said absentmindedly, playing with a lock of her dirty blonde hair. "But I think I'd like Slytherin better. May Chester said that everyone's who is important and will be successful will be in Slytherin." 

"Then May Chester is saying something intelligent for once," Bellatrix muttered. 

The train ride was rather uneventful, once in a while friends of Bellatrix or Andromeda dropped by to say hi or for a small chat but most of the time the sisters were left alone in each other's company. Not that they minded, this would be one of the few moments where they were all be together for a longer time, since Bellatrix and Andromeda were in different houses and there was no telling where Narcissa would end up. As the sky grew dark, they changed into their robes and prepared to leave. 

Hours later, Bellatrix stepped off the train, followed by Andromeda, then Narcissa. They backed away from the train, allowing others to get off with some space. Just moments after they had stepped off, a loud voice called out for all the first years to gather up. Narcissa turned to her sisters, looking as if she was unsure of what to do and reluctant to go anywhere near that loud voice. 

"Go on now," Andromeda said gently. "You wouldn't want to keep them waiting." She gave Narcissa a light push towards the place where all the first years were starting to head towards. Narcissa gave her and Bellatrix a long look, then started to walk, following the crowd of first years. Every now and then she looked over her shoulder to see if Bellatrix and Andromeda were still standing there. 

As the first years headed away from the train, Andromeda turned around to walk towards the carriages. However, she stopped when she discovered that Bellatrix was still standing on the same spot, watching Narcissa even though she could hardly see her anymore. Sighing, Andromeda hooked Bellatrix's arm with hers and pulled her away and towards the carriages. 

"You know… I don't think that the Sorting Hat has to put Narcissa into Slytherin for people to notice that you're related," Andromeda joked. 

"It had better do that anyway," Bellatrix mumbled and followed Andromeda. 

***

The Great Hall was buzzing with noise as all the pupils and the teachers at Hogwarts waited for the first years to arrive and enter. No one was waiting more eagerly than Bellatrix, who was drumming her fingers against her table, as she didn't have anything else to do. Andromeda was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, chatting happily to her friends about what she had done all summer. Bellatrix glanced at her once in a while, but not more often than she glanced at the doors to the Great Hall, which she expected to fling open any time. 

A small worry that had first shown up when she had watched Narcissa leave her and Andromeda had now grown into an annoying and constant thought in her mind. What if Narcissa fell into the lake during the boat ride? She was never a good swimmer and what if the giant squid grabbed her or something? 

"A knut for your thoughts?" 

Bellatrix blinked and turned her head to her right. The one who had spoken to her was Rodolphus Lestrange, or Rod as people called him, a dark haired boy in her year. 

"What, my thoughts aren't worth more than a knut?" Bellatrix replied, almost smiling. "I demand at least a couple of sickles, galleons if you want to know what was going on in my head this morning." 

"Galleon?" Rod repeated, his lips curving into a smile. "You've become greedy over the summer." 

"She wouldn't be a Slytherin without ambitions," a third voice said. Both Bellatrix and Rod looked forwards. Two empty seats right across theirs were filled as two Slytherins, also in their third years sat down. One was a freckled boy with glasses called Winston Noren, the other was a girl with large eyes called Jennie Dawkins. 

"Did you two have a nice summer?" Winston went on, pushing his glasses up his nose while looking at Bellatrix and Rod. 

"Nice enough," Rod answered with a shrug. "Would have been better if I didn't have to spend half the summer alone with my brothers and those ugly house elves at home." 

"Your parents ditched you for the Bermuda triangle?" Winston inquired lightly. The glare he received from Rod kept him quiet for the rest of the conversation. 

"And you, Bellatrix?" Jennie asked curiously. 

"I was at home with my sisters," Bellatrix snapped, almost to the point of being of rude. She looked towards the door and frowned. "How long does it take for them to get here anyway?" 

The three other Slytherins glanced towards the door and understood whom Bellatrix was referring too. 

"Hungry?" Jennie guessed. Bellatrix shook her head. 

"Anxious." 

Tearing her eyes away from the door, she picked up the knife that was set on the table in front of her. She let her index finger slide down the cool, metal surface of the knife. Her distorted reflection stared back at her. 

"Did you hear about Alice Richney in Gryffindor?" Jennie asked, leaning forwards slightly so that only those close to her would hear what she was saying. "She's in my sister Eliza's year. During the summer, while Meg Davies was in France, she stole Meg's boyfriend!" 

Both Rod and Winston rolled their eyes at the gossip. Bellatrix cast a glance towards the far end of the Slytherin, where Meg Davies was sitting and looking much gloomier than her normal happy self. Sitting on the other side of the Great Hall and by the Gryffindor table, was Alice Richney and a boy who Bellatrix recognized as Meg's boyfriend. Or to be correct, Alice's boyfriend. 

"What a cow," Bellatrix muttered, unconsciously adjusting her hold on the knife to make it point towards Alice. Rod looked at her and snatched the knife away from her and put it down on the table where it belonged. 

"Remember what we decided last year," he reminded and spoke to Bellatrix as if she was three years old. "No throwing knives at Gryffindors when teachers can deduct points." 

"Fine, I'll write it up on a list of things to do during the summer," Bellatrix retorted sarcastically. 

"Yeah, add that between kicking house elves and appearing in someone's nightmare," Rod responded, adjusting the tone of his voice to match Bellatrix's. 

Bellatrix glared, Rod grinned while both Jennie and Winston chuckled, but the laughter were cut short as the enormous doors of the Great Hall flung open with a loud, creaking noise. All the talking died out as Professor McGonagall hastily and confidently walked passed the pupil tables and up to the high table where all the teachers and the headmaster sat. Bellatrix sat up straight and stretched out her neck a little in order to see the first years better. She spotted Narcissa in the middle of the long train of first years that nervously followed Professor McGonagall. 

_No wet clothes, seaweed, sand in her hair or any signs of bite marks,_ Bellatrix observed quietly to herself. She relaxed and sunk back slightly in her seat. _The giant squid behaved this year._

She paid little attention to the beginning of the ceremony. While the Sorting Hat merrily sang it's song Bellatrix occupied herself with playing with her fork and spinning it around on the table. The words and the melody of the song passed her like a silent gust of wind. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Rod, Jennie and Winston glaring at her because of the little noise the fork made when it spun around on the table. It wasn't until Sarah Bennett had been sorted into Hufflepuff that Bellatrix slammed her hand over the fork to make it spin and started to pay attention to the ceremony. 

"Narcissa Black," Professor McGonagall called, lifting her gaze from the scroll she was reading from. Bellatrix watched Narcissa nervously step up and sit down at the stool. Even from where she sat, she could see that Narcissa was clutching the hem of her sleeves nervously. The Sorting Hat was lowered and put on top of Narcissa's head. The hat was so big that it sunk over her small head, covering her entire forehead. McGonagall had just let go of the hat when it opened its mouth to announce the house Narcissa had been placed in. Bellatrix held her breath. 

"Slytherin!" 

Bellatrix exhaled with relief at the same time as the Slytherin table exploded with cries of joy and enthusiastic applauds. Narcissa, who shared the same relieved look as Bellatrix, jumped down from the stool and made her way to the Slytherin table, where she was greeted by handshakes, smiling faces and other friendly greeting gestures. Bellatrix smiled at herself, leaned forwards and reached out her hand over the table to Narcissa who had taken a seat not that far away from her. After a handshake with the head boy, Narcissa turned her head and spotted her sister. Returning a broad smile, Narcissa reached out her own hand and slipped it into Bellatrix's bigger one. 

Far away from them, in the middle of the Ravenclaw table, forgotten by everyone except those who sat near her, was Andromeda, who smiled vaguely at the sight of the two sisters holding each other's hands. 

***

The September morning air felt soothing and refreshing against Andromeda's face. She was standing by the open window in her dorm in the Ravenclaw tower, inhaling deep breaths of fresh air while waiting for the others in the dorm to get ready and dressed for breakfast. 

"I can't say that I'm looking forwards to Potions this year," Moira Brooke said sulkily as she ran a brush through her short hair. "I heard that Professor Jigger is going to give us twice as much homework." 

"Puh-lease," Wendy Charleston said, rolling her eyes. She almost tripped doing that since she was running back and forth between her trunk and the bathroom while trying to get ready. "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. The day he actually remembers to collect our homework I'll eat my wand." 

"How about we just eat breakfast instead?" Andromeda said, smiling as she turned to her best friends. "I'm starved, aren't you two done yet?" 

"Patience, we're almost done…" Wendy murmured while Moira put her brush away. 

It wasn't until half an hour later that they left the Ravenclaw tower and entered the Great Hall. Like many mornings before and mornings to come the Great Hall was packed with pupils talking, comparing schedules and other things while eating breakfast. Andromeda was just about to sit down and grab something to eat when her eyes caught a familiar face in the crowd. Biting her lip, she decided to ignore her hunger for a couple more minutes. 

"Hold on, I'll be right back," she said quickly to Wendy and Moira. Without waiting for an answer she got up and walked the short distance to the Slytherin table. She stopped at the far end of the tables, where Narcissa was sitting with a couple of girls in her year. 

"Good morning," Andromeda greeted merrily as she plopped down on an empty seat next to Narcissa. "Enjoying Hogwarts life so far?" 

"Morning," Narcissa answered, swallowing the last bite of her muffin. A wide grin appeared on her lips, one that Andromeda hadn't seen in weeks. "We had so much fun last night, you should have been there!" 

"We?" Andromeda questioned puzzled. 

"Oh, I've forgot to introduce you!" Narcissa exclaimed, not remembering that she hadn't had the chance to. She turned to the other girls that were sitting with her. "These are Fiona, Emily, Daphne and Helen. Girls, this is my other sister, Andromeda." 

"Hello!" four girls said to Andromeda in a chorus. Andromeda forced herself to smile and look friendly. 

"Hi, nice to meet all of you," she replied, trying not to show that she had already forgotten all the names of the girls. 

"Anyway, all of us stayed up really late last night," Narcissa went on, speaking quietly as if she had too much to say but too little time. "Nathan showed us this really funny thing he came up with when he was trying to transfigure a snail into a bottle of butterbeer! Winston tried to give us some chocolate, but then Bella and Jennie both sent him flying into the Slytherin statue, because the chocolate turned out to be something really disgusting that he had transfigured into chocolate. I think Bella said something scary to him, because he seemed kind of afraid to go near us the rest of the night. You should have been there, it was so much fun!" 

"I'm sure it was," Andromeda said smiling. 

She had resisted the urge to say "Nathan?" "Winston?" "Jennie?" "Slytherin statue?" while Narcissa had talked since she basically had no idea was Narcissa was talking about. 

_I guess it's the disadvantage of being a Ravenclaw,_ Andromeda thought almost bitterly, to her own surprise and dismay. Looking around, she expected to see Bellatrix sitting a few seats away with her usual group of friends but was surprised when she didn't see her anywhere. 

"Speaking of Bella, where is she?" 

"Oh, she left already," Narcissa told her. "I think she was in a hurry, because she said something about going off to stop Rod and Winston from trying to lift the protection charms around the girls' dormitory." 

Andromeda's eyes widened slightly at her words, but Narcissa had spoken as if it was perfectly normal. Deciding that she had had enough of hearing about things that she didn't understand and that she didn't want to hear "You should have been there again", she rose from her seat and smiled vaguely towards Narcissa. Hiding disappointment or pain underneath a smile was something she often did. 

"I think I need my breakfast now," she said, her voice revealing no sign of being hurt. "I'll catch you later, okay?" 

She gave Narcissa a quick hug, then went straight back to Moira and Wendy at the Ravenclaw table. Without saying a word, she shed the smiling mask and sat down. Moira and Wendy exchanged a look, then both turned to her. 

"What happened?" Moira asked, concerned and surprised at the same time. "You were all happiness and sunshine a minute ago." 

"It's nothing," Andromeda lied and buttered some toast with little enthusiasm. "I'm just hungry." 

The conversation about that ended there. Wendy and Moira switched topics and started to discuss the classes they were going to have later that day while Andromeda occasionally spoke while eating her toast. Andromeda didn't see it, but her friends exchanged more looks and although they let her be, they were as much aware of the growing feeling of gloom as she was. 

***

To Narcissa Black, Hogwarts was as fun and perfect as she had imagined it to be. During Andromeda's first year and Bellatrix's third, she had been left alone in a big house with no one but the horrible, old Mrs Gable to keep her company. Mrs Gable was never much company and Narcissa would rather spend her days writing long letters to her sisters than be with Mrs Gable. She had longed for Hogwarts, the place where her sisters were and where there were hundreds of people around her age and where one would never have to fear loneliness. In her admiration and dream of Hogwarts she had forgotten one thing about it. 

It was still a school. 

The day had started out nice. Breakfast with her new friends, both Bellatrix and Andromeda had dropped by briefly to check on her before heading off to their own classes. It was when the actual lessons started that Narcissa realized that everything had a bad side and that nothing was entirely perfect. 

It all started out very innocently in her first Potions class. Professor Jigger, an aged, bony wizard who had a tendency to talk too much about trivial things had spent the first hour talking about the time when he accidentally wandered into a muggle camping area when Daphne politely reminded him that he was supposed to give them instructions on how to make their first potion. After scribbling down the instructions and ingredients and after another polite reminder from Daphne when Professor Jigger went off topic, the class had twenty minutes to finish their potions. 

Perhaps it was the lack of time that stressed her, but Narcissa didn't think that it was such a big deal if she added the crushed shells just a little earlier. However, the red colour that the mysterious liquid in her cauldron now had made her somewhat suspicious, not to mention alarmed. The liquid was boiling and with the red colour, it had a striking resemblance to lava. A feeling of dread started to form inside her and Narcissa reached her hand up slightly to finger at her favorite necklace, a heart shaped gold pendant that had belonged to her mother. 

"Um… Helen…" Narcissa started. She backed away from her cauldron slightly, pulling Helen, who was sitting next to her with her. 

"What is it?" Helen wondered. 

Narcissa didn't know quite why she was alarmed or why she was pulling Helen and herself away from the cauldron. But her fears where confirmed only moments later. 

A large bubble had formed in the cauldron, rising and getting bigger each moment. With a loud "POP!" the bubble exploded, spraying red liquid over those who were closest to it. Instinctively, Narcissa put her hand over her face and the red liquid only stained her dark robes. She looked at the stains, wondering how she was going to get them off her robe when she felt Helen shaking her arm lightly. She looked up and forwards and her jaw dropped at the sight. 

Standing in front of the desk was Maria Mannering, a brown haired Gryffindor. Formerly brown haired was a better description. Maria had been unfortunate enough to get most of Narcissa's potion on her head. Normally someone's first instinct would have been to get the disgusting potion out of one's hair, but Narcissa had a feeling that it wasn't going to be an issue in Maria's case. 

Where the potion had sprayed her head, there were bald spots instead of the long, wavy brown locks that Maria had had. 

A scream pierced the ears of the pupils in the classroom as Maria had seen her own reflection in her cauldron and was screaming out of pure horror and fear. Both Narcissa and Helen covered their eyes, looking at each other while Maria's friends were trying to calm her down. 

Completely oblivious to what had happened and Maria's horrified screams, Professor Jigger stopped near Narcissa and looked into her cauldron, where what the remains of her potion was still boiling. His eyes widened in surprise, then he flashed Narcissa a broad smile. 

"Well done, miss Slack! You successfully made a hair removal potion!" he exclaimed, genuinely impressed. 

"Um… thanks…" Narcissa mumbled insecurely, deciding not to correct Proffessor Jigger on the mistake he had made on her name. 

"What's with all the noise?" Professor Jigger said to no one in particular. He turned around and spotted the screaming and almost bald Maria Mannering. "Oh dear… children grow up and old so fast these days…" 

"Professor Jigger, her potion did this!" Maria's friend Antonia yelled, pointing accusingly at Narcissa while supporting Maria with both arms. Professor Jigger turned and looked at Narcissa again. She backed slightly from him while mentally going through all the punishments she could possibly get. Fifty points off Slytherin? A hundred? Two hundred points plus detention all the way to Christmas? Her fingers clutched her pendant tightly. 

"Oh, what do you know?" Professor Jigger said smiling. "Your potion works!" He noticed that shocked looks he was getting from the class and looked at Maria. "Well, you best be off to Mrs Preston. She can regrow your hair in an hour. It was really nice and unselfish of you to offer to test the potion for your friends. Miss Wilkes, you can go with her if you like." 

Antonia supported Maria and helped her out of the dungeon, as Maria was too shocked and horrified to walk by herself. Professor Jigger watched them leave, then raised an eyebrow curiously when he saw that the entire class had stopped working with their potions. 

"Well, carry on," he said lightly and walked up to his desk. 

Although the class continued working with the potions, they all exchanged shocked looks with each other, wondering if Professor Jigger was really that stupid or if he was just pretending. 

Narcissa, however, was just relieved that Professor Jigger seemed to have forgotten (or never learned) reasons for why a pupil should be punished. She left Potions thinking that she was extremely lucky for getting off so easily. 

She was beginning to have doubts about ten minutes after leaving Potions. On her way to Herbology a crowd of Gryffindors walked right past her on their way to the flying lesson with Professor Crowley when she had suddenly felt a forceful push her and her face landing in right in a pile of mud. By the time her friends had helped her up the Gryffindors were already gone as well as the chance to figure out who had pushed her. Narcissa had a strong feeling that it was someone who had been at the Potions class. 

Arriving at Herbology with muddy clothes, face and hair, Narcissa had thought that it couldn't get any worse. She was paired with a couple of boys from Hufflepuff during on an assignment. Normally, she would have no interest in talking or getting to know them but she thought that since they would be working together that class she ought to at least know their names. 

"Hi, I'm Narcissa Black," she introduced herself with a smile. The three boys merely looked at her before getting an almost hostile look on their faces. Narcissa flinched, not expecting that reaction from them. 

"We know who you are," one of the boys answered coldly. "We heard about what you did to Maria Mannering." 

With that, they ignored her for the rest of the lesson. 

It was a tired and sad Narcissa who sat down in the Great Hall three hours later for dinner. Surrounded by friends and fellow Slytherins, it made her feel a little happier and more comfortable. She might have actually cheered up, if she hadn't suddenly felt something hit against the back of her neck. Putting her hand lightly on her neck, she looked over her shoulder and saw a big potato lying on the floor. Biting her bottom lip, she looked over the long tables of the Great Hall, hoping that the one who had thrown the potato at her would at least admit to doing it. She found no one who met her eyes and no one except herself who seemed to be aware of the potato lying on the floor. 

Later that night, behind pulled down curtains and in the safety of her bed in the Slytherin dungeon, Narcissa buried her face in the pillow and tried to drown out all sounds of her sobbing. She thought of Bellatrix and Andromeda, of how she had longed for Hogwarts ever since Bellatrix had enrolled. 

And she thought that this part of the Hogwarts was the only one that she hadn't longed for and one that she was unhappy to discover. 


	2. The hero

**

Sisters Three

**   
Chapter 2: The hero 

May 9th, 2004: This chapter has been a little updated... I just changed the name of a professor and replaced a few words. 

**Chapter 2**

Bellatrix put her hand over her mouth and yawned. It caught the attention of both her sisters, who looked up from their books. 

"Tired?" Andromeda asked. Bellatrix nodded lazily and leaned back at the chair. 

"I spent five hours working on an essay for professor Matthews last night," Bellatrix told. "It was supposed to be in yesterday but she decided to be nice and let me hand it in today instead. Which reminds me, why are we cooped up in the library on a Saturday?" 

"Because I have a test on History of Magic on Monday," Narcissa muttered quietly to herself. She carelessly flipped the page of her book, half reading and half thinking that she would rather have fun with her friends rather than study. 

"You're not the only one," Andromeda added, making a small gesture at all the parchments and books spread around her. "Professor McGonagall and Professor Brocklehurst both gave us essays to write... it has to be at least 50 inches!" 

"You're a Ravenclaw, are you supposed to enjoy this?" Bellatrix asked curiously. Andromeda simply glared at her and then went back to writing her Astrology essay. Being the only one who lacked something to study for, Bellatrix started to think of things to do. She was getting bored of the silence but had a feeling that if she broke it Madame Pince would be on her throat and very likely to kick her as well as her sisters out of the library. As much as the thought amused Bellatrix, she didn't think that Andromeda or Narcissa would appreciate it. Bored, she had nothing to do but look out the window. 

It seemed like a perfect day to do nothing but relax and spend time with friends. The autumn leaves had acquired bright red and orange colours and despite the fact that it had rained earlier in the week it was completely dry and warm outside. One of the school teams was practising out on the Quidditch pitch. By looking at the colours she could see that it was the Gryffindor team. She frowned, upon watching their keeper catch every quaffle that was thrown towards the three rings. Either the keeper was very good or his team mates really bad. Being a Slytherin, she hoped for the latter. She had never been a fanatic when it came to Quidditch, but it was natural for her to want Slytherin to win the Quidditch tournament, just like everything else. 

The keeper flew a little closer to the castle to catch a quaffle that had flown way past the ring and out of the pitch (Bellatrix sincerely hoped that it was one of the chasers who had been responsible for it flying way off course). He was still far away from the castle and the window Bellatrix say by when he caught the quaffle but Bellatrix still managed to catch a quick glimpse of his face. 

Connor Matheson. For the sake of the Slytherin team Bellatrix hoped that he was as bad at Quidditch as he was at chartering stars. She knew that from a fact since the Slytherins in her year were unfortunate enough to be paired with the Gryffindors in astronomy. 

"I'm going now," Narcissa suddenly announced, closing her book and getting up. "I'm sick of studying." 

"That's my little sister," Bellatrix said lovingly and smiled. 

"I'll see you two later," Narcissa answered, smiling as well as she gathered her books and parchments. She left the library and the sound of her footsteps could still be heard even when she was out of sight. Bellatrix's smile faded slightly and preoccupied herself with folding small airplanes of parchments and enchanting them to circle around Andromeda's head. 

Walking down the empty corridors, Narcissa struggled to keep all her books and notes in her arm as they kept slipping down and falling on the floor. She had just readjusted the books slightly for the fifth time when she looked up and saw a group of girls walking around the corner and towards her. Her heart skipped in fear when she saw that all the girls wore Gryffindor badges on their robes and that both Maria Mannering and Antonia Wilkes were among them. 

Mrs Preston seemed to have done a good job of making Maria's hair grow back because it looked exactly like the way it had before Narcissa's potion. But something told Narcissa that Maria wasn't going to let her get away with that easily, even if it had been unintentional. Taking a deep breath, Narcissa began to walk towards them as well. Turning around and going back to the library wasn't an option and she would look stupid. 

It was an accident, Narcissa thought. Make her aware of that and everyone will be fine. 

"What are you doing inside on such a nice day?" Antonia said in sickly sweet voice and the entire group of girls stopped, blocking Narcissa's way. "Reading up on how to make more devastating potions?" 

"It was an accident," Narcissa said, empathizing the last word as she looked at Maria, who was glaring at her. "I didn't do that potion on purpose." 

"Yeah right," Maria spat angrily. "The potion just happened to end up in my hair when nothing happened to you and your friend!" 

_YES!_ Narcissa wanted to answer, because it was just that that had happened. 

"Look, I'm sorry but it was an accident," Narcissa apologized. "Now will you please let me pass?" 

The girls didn't move. Some crossed their arms and shot Narcissa death glares. Antonia took a couple of steps forwards and stood in front of Narcissa. 

"Not so brave without your friends, are you?" she mocked. "You Slytherin are all the same, always doing bad things and sucking up to teachers so they won't punish you." 

Narcissa flushed, not out of embarrassment but out of anger. She wanted to say something witty and mean to counter what Antonia had just said but couldn't find the right words. Instead, her hand reached up to clutch her gold pendant, something she often did when she was nervous or needed time to think. 

Antonia spotted this and in one fast move she yanked Narcissa's hand away so that she could see the necklace. She eyed the necklace with a look that for some reason made Narcissa feel angry and protective of it. She pulled away her hand away from Antonia's grip. 

"Just leave me alone," she said in a low voice. Before she could react, Antonia had pulled out her wand and was pointing it at Narcissa's pendant. 

"Diffindo!" she cried and Narcissa felt a tingling sensation in her neck as the gold chain that held the pendant split and slipped down from her neck. Antonia reached out her hand and snatched it as it fell. 

"Give it back!" Narcissa cried, extending her hand and reaching for the necklace but Antonia backed away. She opened her palm and looked at the necklace while Maria walked up to her. 

"How does it feel to loose something you like?" Maria sneered and gave Narcissa a strong push on her shoulder. She fell back and hit both her head and back against the cold, stone wall. Rubbing the back of her head, she could hear the sound of mocking laughter as the girls walked past her and down the corridor. 

Narcissa put her hands against the floor, attempting to push herself up but instead she found herself tears rolling down her red cheeks. Crying like a little baby, she buried her face in her hands. The pendant had belonged to her mother, it was her mother's last gift to her before she had died. How could those girls be so cruel to take that away from her? How could they? 

Crying and thinking how angry Bellatrix was going to be when she would find out that Narcissa had lost the necklace, Narcissa didn't hear the footsteps around the corner. She didn't notice that she wasn't alone in the corridor until she felt fabric brushing against her leg and someone's hand on her shoulder. Lifted her head a little, lowered her hands and looked up to see who it was. 

She found herself staring into a pair of deep grey eyes. 

Eyes so intense, yet at the same time so cold and harsh. Enchanting and luring, it was impossible for her to do anything but to continue to stare into them. The more she looked, the more intoxicating it became to continue to look into them. She could have looked into those eyes forever, willingly lost and drowned herself within them. 

"What's wrong with you?" 

The voice awoke her from the daydream she had slipped into. Blinking several times, she saw that a boy, or rather a young man, a couple of years older than her kneeling down in front of her. He was rather pale skinned with long, sleek blond hair that hung slightly over his shoulder as he had leaned forwards a little. Narcissa's eyes darted to badge on his robe, to her relief she saw the same Slytherin badge on his robe as her own, along with a small pin with the letter P. 

_A Slytherin prefect,_ Narcissa thought to herself, somewhat surprised at herself that she hadn't seen him before. Because she sure would have remember those eyes. 

"I'm.. um... I..." Narcissa mumbled, trying to come up with a logical sentence to say but the only thing she could think of was how she wanted to loose herself in those grey eyes of his. 

Sighing, the young man wordlessly got up and pulled Narcissa up on her feet. Blushing, she stroke a lock of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear and shyly looked up on the young man, who was much taller than herself. Narcissa nervously reached up her hand to finger on her pendant, but her fingers found nothing where the pendant usually hung. Her eyes widened slightly 

"T...they took my pendant," Narcissa stammered, trying not to panic. 

"Who?" the young man asked, trying to sound patient and understanding. 

"Gryffindors," Narcissa told. Since he was a prefect, he should be able to help her out. She pointed towards the way the Gryffindors had walked down. "They took my pendant and went that way." 

Without saying a word the young man walked down the corridor. Narcissa brushed a little dirt off her robes and, forgetting all about her books and notes lying on the floor, she followed him. It didn't take long before the Gryffindors were in sight, as they had stopped and were standing in a closed circle talking amongst themselves. They were so into their conversations that they didn't even notice Narcissa and the prefect walking up to them. 

"Antonia, you know that we're going to get in trouble!" 

"We're gonna loose points!" 

"...don't worry, I'll just drop it somewhere later and then someone will find it and turn it in." 

"I suggest you turn it in now," the prefect said in a clear voice, causing the group of girls to jump and then turn towards him. Narcissa tried not to grin as they had all looked at the prefect as if he was the grim reaper himself. 

"Give her back her pendant now or I'll take you all to see professor McGonagall." 

Antonia seemed to have recovered from the shock of seeing the prefect, because she stood up tall and held her nose in the air. 

"What pendant?" she asked, trying to sound as if she didn't know what was going on and that she wasn't afraid. In the corner of her eye, Narcissa saw Antonia hiding a closed fist behind her back. The prefect must have seen it as well, because he pulled out his wand out of the pocket of his robe and pointed it towards Antonia. 

"Accio pendant," he said calmly. 

Antonia's arm shook, then suddenly the pendant and its gold chain came flying out of her fist and into the prefect's hand. Narcissa couldn't help looking at his long, beautiful fingers. She blushed again, then turned her eyes back towards the group of girls, who now looked even more afraid. 

"I suggest that you get out of my sight before I deduct points from Gryffindor and then turn you over to professor McGonagall so that she can deduct even more points," the prefect told. In only a few seconds the girls had left the corridor and were out of sight. Narcissa swore that the only time she had seen anyone run that fast was when Bellatrix had threatened a house elf with clothes if he didn't get out of her sight. 

The prefect turned towards her and held out his hand so that Narcissa could take the necklace. Suddenly he frowned and pulled it back. For a brief moment Narcissa was afraid that he was going to take the necklace just as the girls had. But she sighed in relief as he tapped the gold chain with his wand and said: 

"Reparo!" The gold chain, which had been split by Antonia's spell, became whole again and looked no different from the way it had looked before. Narcissa's entire face lit up with happiness as the prefect placed the pendant and the gold chain in her hands. 

"There, don't loose it again." 

Then he turned around and left. Narcissa couldn't help smiling the rest of the day. Not just because she had gotten the pendant back, but also because she could have sworn that the prefect had smiled just a little at her before he had left. 

Days passed by quickly after that and had it not been for decorations being put up one morning Bellatrix wouldn't have remembered that it was Halloween. Since she had classes most of the day, it wasn't until she sat down at the Slytherin table that she could finally relax. She spent most of the dinner eating and listening to Jennie complain about the amount of extra transfigurations homework that she had been given by professor McGonagall. Occasionally Rod and Winston said something that interested her but most of the time she kept quiet. 

Two hours and three attempts of starting a food fight later, the Great Hall was almost empty on people. Some of the teachers were still sitting at their tables, enjoying drinks and talking about different things while professor Jigger dosed off and fell asleep in his seat. Almost all of the students had finished and were in the respective common rooms. The exceptions to this were Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa, who were sitting closely together near one of the fireplaces. Bellatrix and Andromeda were sitting next to each other while Narcissa sat on the floor, leaning her back against their legs. All three of them held a cup of hot chocolate while staring into the fireplace. 

"You should have seen her face," Andromeda laughed. "Professor Matthews chewed her out and said that she'd hardly find instructions on how to get rid of a boggart in a romance novel." 

"Serves her right," Bellatrix agreed. "She spends most of her time running after Rod all the time even though she knows that Rod doesn't like her." 

"She's a Hufflepuff," Andromeda reminded. "Hardworking, remember? They don't give up easily." 

"For our sake I hope not," Bellatrix murmured and sipped at her chocolate. "They've got least points so far, I checked the points this morning. Ravenclaw is leading at the moment and we're close second. We got a good chance to win this year." She smiled as Andromeda opened her mouth, probably to say something about Ravenclaw winning last year. "Just gotta watch out so those blasted Gryffindors don't get ahead of us." 

"I hate Gryffindors," Narcissa suddenly said in a bitter tone, almost startling both her sisters since Narcissa had been very quiet that nice. Andromeda's left eyebrow rose slightly as she looked at Narcissa. The way Narcissa had spoken didn't sound like it had much to do with the normal rivalry between the houses. 

"Why?" Andromeda asked. 

Narcissa shifted position so that she sat half turned towards them. Leaning her head against Andromeda's knee, she told them what happened at potions class and her encounter with the Gryffindor girls in the corridor a couple of days ago. She had just come to the part where Antonia had taken her necklace and left her when she saw that Bellatrix's face was flushed and red with anger. 

"Oh, that... cow!" she exclaimed so loud that professor Jigger stirred in his sleep and that the rest of the teacher cast curious looks at her. "I'm going to hex her next time I see her!" 

"Bella," Andromeda said warningly. 

"Fine, I'll beat her up," Bellatrix corrected and looked at Narcissa. "Do you want me to beat her up? Because I will." 

"Bella, please," Andromeda said again. "Do that and you'll get all kinds of punishments." 

"We'll lose points and then Gryffindor will catch up," Narcissa reminded, putting a hand over Bellatrix's and squeezing it lightly. "Besides... he got the necklace back for me and he even repaired it." 

"He?" both Bellatrix and Andromeda repeated at the same time, both looking equally puzzled. Narcissa smiled, thinking about the prefect and those grey eyes she had lost herself in. 

"A Slytherin prefect. He had grey eyes and blonde hair. But I don't know his name or year." 

"Malfoy," Bellatrix informed, smiling at Narcissa. "He's a 5th year. I think father knows his family or at least a relative." 

"Can't you tell me more about him?" Narcissa pleaded and raised her head slightly. She looked very happy and excited all of the sudden. "Like... his first name or how father knows them or... what food he likes and when his birthday is... and...!" 

"What do I look like, Malfoy's biography?" Bellatrix laughed, ruffling Narcissa's hair lightly. "The Malfoys are a pure blooded family, just like ours. And his name is Lucius, that's all I know." 

"Lucius..." Narcissa repeated to herself, as if she was tasting the name. She lowered her head again, letting it rest against Andromeda's knee. Something inside her told her that it was a name that she would never forget, no matter how much time passed. 

"Aw, our little Narcissa has a crush on Lucius Malfoy," Andromeda teased and tickled Narcissa on the neck. 

"I do not!" Narcissa shouted defensively, but she couldn't help the fact that her cheeks were turning red. Bellatrix laughed again, knowing that Andromeda had been right on the spot. 

"Oh yes, you do," she insisted, tickling Narcissa as well. Narcissa laughed and tried to wriggle out of their grip. With both her sisters tickling her, she couldn't get away. She pulled at her own arm and when she finally managed to pull it out of Bellatrix's hold, she accidentally knocked the jug of chocolate out of Andromeda's hand. The hot chocolate spilled out over Andromeda's robes, as well as Bellatrix's. Narcissa gasped and stared at her sisters. 

Not a word was said and almost nothing was heard with exception from the fireplaces and Peeves wrecking havoc in a nearby corridor. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa all sat still as if they had been petrified by some spell. Seconds and minutes passed without any change. 

Then, Bellatrix suddenly looked from the chocolate stained spots on her robes to Narcissa. Andromeda did the same. Instinctively, Narcissa crawled a little backwards. The two eldest Black sisters exchanged a short look. In a playful shriek and more hot chocolate being poured on robes, Narcissa got up and ran around the table. Her two sisters ran after her, one of them holding the last jug of chocolate and preparing to pour it over her anytime. 

"Come back here you little rascal!" Bellatrix shouted, trying to sound angry while in reality she was doing everything to keep herself from bursting into full laughter. Narcissa was half laughing and kept tripping and stumbling as she ran around the tables to get away from her sisters. 

They had completely forgotten about the teachers' presence in the Great Hall. When the sisters started to chase each other around the table, professor Brocklehurst, the head of Hufflepuff and the astronomy teacher, rose slightly from her seat and was just about to tell the girls to stop when she felt someone pulling her arm. She looked to her left and saw that it was professor Baptisa, an old gypsy who worked as the divination teacher at Hogwarts. 

"Leave them be, Brenna," professor Baptisa said smiling. "It's Halloween after all." 

Professor Brocklehurst gave her a questioning look, and then decided that it wasn't that important after all. She sat down in her seat again and resumed her conversation with professor Flitwick about duelling. Professor Baptisa resumed her conversations as well, but once in a while she glanced at the three sisters. She watched them with a smile, but at the same time she felt a strange sadness inside her. But she kept quiet about it and for once, she hoped that her visions wouldn't come true. 


	3. Dear disgrace

**

Sisters Three

**   
**Chapter 3: Dear disgrace**

_Note: I had doubts about whether to post this chapter or not... but in the end I've decided to because I can't find another way to rewrite certain parts of it. I hope you like it anyway. :)_

***

For Narcissa, who had always loved merry holidays, it seemed to take forever until the first morning she woke up to find the ground covered with pure white snow. She waited impatiently until the day when she, Andromeda and Bellatrix got on the Hogwarts Express to go home for Christmas. All her gifts to her friends, her sister and her father were neatly packed in her trunk to be sent by owl or put under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. 

All three sisters were looking forwards to going home, mostly because it provided them with pleasant time to do whatever they wanted instead of studying all the time. But the train ride home was nothing but pleasant. Bellatrix had had a row with Rod before leaving and in anger she had snapped at Andromeda who hadn't had a terrific day either. This led to them ignoring each other as well as they could. Narcissa tried to strike up conversations with both of them but since her sisters were more interested in being quiet and looking away from each other Narcissa ended up sulking as well, simply because they were. 

The whole trip seemed to drag on forever until they reached King's Cross. Without as much as a polite word to each other the sisters stepped off the train and loaded off their trunks. Narcissa struggled with hers, as it was too heavy for her. Normally she would ask Bellatrix to help her, but seeing as Bellatrix was busy being mad at everyone she decided not to. But she didn't have to struggle with her trunk that long. Looking to her left, she saw two familiar faces coming towards them. Narcissa recognized them as Jameson and Baker, two of her father's servants. 

Her face, which has been characterized by a sulking look the entire train ride, lit up and all negative emotions were suddenly forgotten when she remember who was going to pick them up. 

_Father!_ Narcissa thought merrily and took one step forwards. Jameson and Baker greeted her and her sister politely, before starting to load the trunks on a trolley. Narcissa stood up on her tones looking for her father's face among the crowd at the platform. Andromeda and Bellatrix stepped up next to her, no doubt that they were looking for their father as well. 

To Narcissa's great disappointment, she couldn't spot her father anywhere. Casting one last look over her shoulder, she saw another familiar face coming towards her. But it wasn't her father or someone that she would have been happy to see. She didn't even attempt to hide her disappointment when she found herself standing face to face with Mrs Gable. 

Mrs Gable was a tall, old woman wearing robes as grey as the hair that she had trapped inside a hair net. Her wrinkled skin was sickly pale and her eyes also grey. One could have thought that she was a black and white photo. She eyed the sisters with a look so sharp that it felt like it was cutting on their skin. Narcissa, forgetting about sulking and the tense train ride, moved a little closer to Bellatrix and instinctively grabbed her hand. 

Maybe the sight of Mrs Gable made Bellatrix forget all about being angry because Narcissa felt her hand being squeezed lightly. Bellatrix's eyes narrowed slightly and she reminded Narcissa of an animal who stood suspicious and alert in case danger was lurking around. 

"Where's father?" Andromeda asked in a civil but polite tone. She was the only one of the sisters who didn't openly show her dislike of Mrs Gable. 

"Mr Black sends his deepest apologies for not being able to come," Mrs Gable told her in a dull voice. "He has travelled to Wiltshire and will not return until next week." 

Narcissa almost dropped her jaw when she heard Mrs Gable's last words. 

"Next week?" she repeated, utterly disbelieved. "But then he won't be home for Christmas!" 

Mrs Gable said nothing more. Andromeda looked disappointed as well, but she kept quiet and suddenly seemed very interested in fingering at the hem of her robe. Narcissa simply sighed and leaned her head slightly at Bellatrix's arm. What fun would Christmas be like with their father gone and family incomplete? 

"I will owl father as soon as possible," Bellatrix said and sounded as if she didn't believe Mrs Gable's words. If she was aware of it, it didn't seem like she cared. She walked over to Andromeda, pulling Narcissa with her. "Come, let's get going." 

Without looking over their shoulder to make sure that Mrs Gable was coming with them, they began to walk towards the exit. 

***

_Dear Bellatrix,   
I'm sorry but Mrs Gable is right. I cannot return home until my affairs here are finished. I cannot promise anything, but I will try to make it back as soon as I can. Give Andromeda and Narcissa my love.   
-Father_

Bellatrix sighed and folded the letter. Putting it down on her desk, she sat down on the next to it and stared at the letter with a mix of frustration and disappointment. Some Christmas it was going to be now that her father wasn't going to be home for Christmas. The lack of a return date in the letter led to Bellatrix thinking that it was a subtle way of saying that he might not even be able to get home before they left Hogwarts. 

A sudden pecking from her father's owl on the back of her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. She opened a drawer in her desk and found it filled with quills, inkbottles and blank parchments, stacked in a neat pile. She picked those that were closest to her and put them on the desk. As she unscrewed the lid to the inkbottle, she wondered what she was going write. A big part of her wanted to write and demand what business was keeping her father in Wiltshire, during Christmas of all days. But she knew that even if she did question him he would only respond with vague answers and in the end she still wouldn't know anything. 

Dipping the quill in the inkbottle, she took a moment to think about how to start letter. After a few seconds she lowered the quill to the parchment and started to write. 

_Dear father,   
I understand your need to be away_

She hoped that her father was smart enough to not take everything she wrote in the letter literally. 

_and so do Andromeda and Narcissa. I speak for them as well when I say that we hope that you will find a way to come home early. We will set a plate for you at Christmas dinner   
-Bellatrix_

She put the quill down and read through the short letter. A smile almost appeared on her lips as she thought about how one might think that she was a loyal and obedient daughter by reading that letter. When the ink had dried, she folded it and put it in an envelope. 

"Demetrius!" she called, extending her right arm. 

A tall and regal looking cat owl instantly flew towards her and settled obediently on the arm she had extended. Bellatrix attached the letter to the owl's leg. 

"Take this back to your master," she ordered and got up from the chair. She walked over to the window and with her left arm she opened it. "Go!" 

The owl fluttered its long wings and flew away from her and out the window. Bellatrix stayed there and watched the owl's elegant form becoming smaller and smaller before it disappeared. Even when it was gone, she continued to stare at the darkness outside. While others feared darkness and what it brought, Bellatrix had enjoyed it for a long time. It was soothing to her and calmed her down whenever she needed to. There was nothing to fear in the darkness. 

A sudden gust of wind blew into the room and brought light snowflakes with it. Shivering, Bellatrix backed away and shut it tightly, barricading the room from the cold. Once the window was closed, she took a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair, an old habit that never seemed to die. 

The cracking sounds from the small fireplace were the only sound in the room. Somewhat uncomfortable with the silence, Bellatrix left her room immediately. As soon as she opened the door and stepped out in the corridor, she heard muffled voices coming from somewhere in the house. Curious, she followed the sound of the voices and when she arrived at the stairs she realized that the voices came from the sitting room. She walked down the stairs quickly and once she had made it through the hallway she caught a glimpse of something tall and glittering in the sitting room. Upset voices came from there, hushed but they got louder and louder each second. 

"Remove these… garments recently!" 

"But we've spent hours putting them up!" 

"Which is something you shouldn't have done in the first place!" 

Narcissa and Mrs Gable, Bellatrix thought, recognizing their voices. Judging by the tone of their voices, they were having one of those disagreements that Bellatrix had heard so much about. She quickly took the last few steps and reached the wide doorway where she quietly stood to observe what was going on. 

The sitting room seemed much brighter and colourful than it was last time Bellatrix had seen it, which was just after they got home. The walls, which were covered by a dark green wallpaper and paintings of relatives from their father's side, had been lit up by little stars made of paper. They had been charmed to make each star emit a faint glow but since there were so many Bellatrix felt like she was staring right into a spot light. Red and green stripes were tied around miscellanous things around the room, including a gloomy looking statue of a knight that now looked more like a colourful mummy. The knight statues occasionally move and tried to cut the stripes off him but all the centuries of being an overlooked, decorative object had gotten to him as he was too stiff to move. 

The tall glittering thing that Bellatrix had seen out in the hallway turned out to be a Christmas tree. At least it was shaped like one. It was so covered with glittery and different decorations that she wondered if it was possible to even see a green spot on it. Standing near the Christmas tree were Andromeda and Narcissa. Dozens of box filled with glittering and colourful objects were spread around them. Mrs Gable was standing a few feet away from them, glaring furiously at all the merry and bright decorations as if they were cursed objects. 

"You can't tell us what to do," Andromeda said to Mrs Gable resentfully. No one except for Bellatrix herself seemed to be aware of the presence in the room. 

"Oh yes, I can!" Mrs Gable shouted back. 

"What's going on here?" 

Bellatrix's strong and clear voice made a sharp contrast to Mrs Gable's high pitched one. She left her safe place at the doorway and stepped between her sisters and Mrs Gable. Crossing her arms, she looked at Mrs Gable with defiance. 

"Well?" 

"Your sisters, miss Black," Mrs Gable said, empathizing every word. "…have insisted on decorating the house with this…" She made a wild gesture towards the places where Andromeda and Narcissa had put up the decorations. "…garbage." 

_How dare you?!_ Bellatrix almost yelled. Her brows almost connected in a deep frown as she looked at Mrs Gable. How dared Mrs Gable to be so bold to treat her sisters this way? Yes, the room was perhaps a little over decorated but she was a servant. Nothing but a servant whose sole purpose was to obey the orders of the master and mistresses in the house. 

_The lack of a proper mistress or master around the house has made her forget that,_ Bellatrix thought angrily. 

"And that's bad because…?" Bellatrix inquired, struggling not to lash out and yell at Mrs Gable. She would handle this, not like an immature child but as the mistress of the house. Mrs Gable stared at her, whether she was feeling surprise or anger Bellatrix didn't know or cared about. 

"May I remind you…" Mrs Gable began, pausing for a while as if trying to control herself. "That Mr Black hired me to take care and be in charge of you while you…" 

"Yes, hired," Bellatrix cut off rather rudely. "My father hired you to take care of my sister when I left for school. Your limited authority in this house doesn't apply to me and since my father is gone I'm in charge of this household." 

Bellatrix was surprised how cold and mature she could sound when she wanted to. Her lips curved into a cold yet amused smile. 

"I say that we keep the decorations and that my sisters can do whatever they want with this house," she decided. "Now run along and do a chore or something, Mrs Gable. Isn't that what we pay you for?" 

Mrs Gable's face turned so red that it could almost blended in with a giant, red sock that hung near the fireplace. She breathed heavily in anger and opened her mouth to say something. But no words came out and she closed her mouth again. Without a word Mrs Gable turned around and quickly fled the sitting room. Once she was out of hearing range, both Narcissa and Andromeda burst into laughter. Bellatrix couldn't help feeling a sense of pride. 

"Did you see the look on her face?" Narcissa laughed. "She was about to explode!" 

"She deserved every word of it," Andromeda said righteously and gave Bellatrix a quick hug. "You're the only one who dares to say such things to her face, Bella." 

"She's an old, ugly squib," Bellatrix murmured, sitting down on the soft carpet. She dragged on of the boxes to her and began to look through the contents. "Just hex her or something next time she behaves like that… it's not like she can hex you back. You can't let a servant walk over you like that." 

Narcissa sat down next to Bellatrix, half burying her head in the long, dark river that was Bellatrix's hair. 

"I'm too afraid to yell at her," she confessed. "I did that last year when she forced me to eat those horrible peas and she yelled back at me. She threatened throw out all my things and said all kinds of nasty things." 

"You don't need to be afraid of her when we're around," Bellatrix said, ruffling Narcissa's hair lightly. Narcissa smiled vaguely and hugged her sister briefly before continuing with decorating the sitting room. 

***

She dreamt of rapid flashes of green light and cruel laughter so familiar that she could have mistaken it for her own. Something twitched and twitched, she couldn't see what it was but it kept twitching. In her dream, she was surrounded by what felt like fabric. It was dark, soft and kept caressing her cold body as the wind blew. Then she suddenly found herself standing in the Slytherin common room with all the other Slytherins in her year. Rod was holding a wand that belonged to her. It was broken in several pieces and it was no doubt that he was the one who had broken it. The wand suddenly became whole again on it's own just so that she could have something to whack Rod on his head with. 

And she woke up. 

Her eyes lids fluttered and opened, heavy from several hours of sleep. Bellatrix cast a look on the clock that was hanging on the wall to her left. It was 4 a.m. Closing her eyes again, she shifted her position slightly and pulled the covers closer to her. She wanted to go back to the dream and to warm sleep. But it was too late. An hour later she was still awake, only now the heaviness in her eyelids had disappeared and she was lying on her back staring up at the ceiling. 

_I can't sleep,_ she finally admitted to herself. Lazily rolling off her bed, she reached out and grabbed a deep red robe, which conveniently hung over a chair. Half an hour later, she carefully closed the door to her room behind her. Although she wore her slippers, the cold of the hard stone floor seemed to go right through them and she shivered. Bellatrix drew the robe closer around her and her pace quickened as she decided to quickly go to the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate. But as she reached the staircase, something changed. 

The silence, which had been so constant and calming, was suddenly cut by a scream so loud and agonizing that it could have woken everyone up and had them feeling an unexplained, intense fear. 

Bellatrix froze as she was about to head down the stairs. Her entire body seemed to tense and a chilling rush ran all the way down her spine at the very sound of the scream. In the corner of her eyes she could see shadows moving and dancing along the wall, although her mind convinced her that it was only the moonlight casting it's poor light against trees in the wind. But the moving shadows, so eerie and erratic in their movements caused her to turn around and watch them, bewildered as the scream went on, crying out in pain and agony. 

_A cry from hell,_ she suddenly found herself thinking and it was only then that she snapped out of her sudden fascination with the shadows and realized that the screaming had not ceased. 

Without a moment's thought, Bellatrix spun around and dashed down the hallway. Feet moving as fast as they could and eyes focused on any unordinary detail she could find, she turned left and towards the direction where she thought the scream came from. The hallways seemed so much longer and difficult to run through and as the scream suddenly died down Bellatrix bit her bottom lip and forced herself to run faster. 

But upon running around the last corner she stopped abruptly as she faced nothing but the dark plainness of the wall. She had reached a dead end. 

There was nothing there, save for a large window and a lonely painting that had dropped from the wall to the floor. It lay there upside down with the back up and the actual painting facing down. Although Bellatrix didn't have to see the front of the painting to know what it was, she had passed that hallway and stood by the window too many times to forget whom the painting portrayed. 

Desdemona Black… her mother. 

Bellatrix slowly took the first step towards the painting. She didn't know what it was, but something inside her held her back and told her to be on guard. Maybe it was the darkness, the dancing shadows or simply the lightning that started to crack the sky as she neared the painting. She stared at the back of the painting and at the dark wooden frame that had been polished to perfection. There was nothing unusual about the painting and on top of that it was a painting of the mother that Bellatrix had held so dear the first eight years old her life. If anything she should have felt comforted upon knowing that it was a painting of her mother. 

Yet her fingers trembled and her mouth felt dry as she bent down cautiously turned the painting up. 

The sound of wood against the floor echoed through the hallway as Bellatrix flipped the painting over and then quickly drew back from it. Outside, the first few raindrops had begun to fall and make quiet but noticeable sounds as they make contact with the roof. A strong wind moved the branches of a tree that stood right next to the window and the shadows on the walls danced again. Bellatrix, whose breath had quicken a little for no reason, cursed herself before being so stupid and silly to be startled. There was nothing unusual about the painting. 

...or was it? 

Bellatrix slowly edged closer to the painting, almost crawling her way over there to take a closer look. When looking from a safe distance, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the painting. It portrayed her mother, sitting on a stone bench in the gardens with a piece of embroidery in her hands. The sunlight shone directly on her and it was as if Desdemona had been blessed by the divine powers as she sat there on the bench. Everything had been painted so bright and peaceful that it seemed impossible for it to give anyone anything but a sense of peace and tranquillity when they looked at it. 

But then again, it was from a safe distance. 

It was impossible to see Desdemona's face from a safe distance. It was impossible to see those haunting and insane eyes, the tangled mess that was once a gather of dark brown hair locks and her white skin that had been destroyed by bleeding scratches and marks. The white dress that she had torn apart herself, the erratic pattern on her sewing, the gory symbols on her embroidery and her twitching movements as she rocked back and forth. It was impossible to hear those eerie words that she murmured without every taking her eyes off the embroidery. 

"…ugly… so disgusting…" 

Bellatrix felt sick to her stomach listening and seeing that. This was not the mother she had remembered, not the proud and beautiful woman she had strived to be like when she was little. What was this? What had happened to the painting that had once been Bellatrix's comfort after her mother's death? 

"…how dare she show her face… ugly…" 

She wanted to scream at the painting to stop, to stop looking so haunted and to stop murmuring those nonsense words. Her mouth opened slightly to speak but no words came out. 

"…ugly… DISGRACE!!" 

The last word was screamed which such ferocity and at the same time Desdemona's face seemed to transform into something far more horrible. Her face was distorted and twisted beyond recognition, like it was melting together and yet stretched out at the same time. Her eyes turned into dark flaming orbs and blood dripped down in rich amounts from them, as if they were crimson tears. 

Scared and frightened, Bellatrix fell back and let out a cry out fear. She crawled backwards, panicking and wanting to get as far away from the horrible face of her mother as she could. The shadows grew around her, no longer dancing but engulfing everything in its way. She felt dizzy and her arms failed to support her as she helplessly slumped down to the cold floor. Her eyelids felt heavy and although resisting at first, she gave into the urge to close her eyes. 

"…Bella? Bella!" 

The sound of her name being called several times caused Bellatrix to abruptly open her eyes again and sit up. The first thing she saw was the painting lying on the floor. It was as if she had imagined the whole thing, Desdemona looked as happy and serene as she normally did in the painting. Her face was once again rosy and fair and her hands working diligently on embroidery of roses. The distorted face, the torn dress and the twitching was all gone. 

"Bella? Are you okay?" 

Bellatrix turned her head to her left upon hearing the voice and saw Andromeda kneeling down next to her, wearing a thick cotton nightdress. Seeing her sister's eyes full of concern and acknowledging the fact that her heart was still pounding rather fast made Bellatrix somewhat angry with herself for being scared. 

"I'm alright," Bellatrix murmured and got up on her feet. She looked at the painting again, as if to assure herself that the distorted and twisted version of her mother's face was no longer there. 

"Are you sure?" Andromeda asked. 

She turned to the painting as well and after a while slowly walked towards it and picked it up. Bellatrix could see a faint smile on Andromeda's face as she hung up the painting on the wall again. Obviously Andromeda had not heard or seen what Bellatrix had. 

"What's going on?" 

The sound of footsteps alerted them both of another one's presence in the hallway. They turned around and saw Mrs Gable's tall and wide form a few yards away. She was holding a lantern with a single lit candle inside that provided her with light since she had no wand or ability to perform the Lumos spell. As Mrs Gable came closer, Bellatrix noted how dishevelled her night robes were and wondered if her scream had woken her up and drawn her to this hallway. 

"Just out for a little walk," Bellatrix responded quickly. 

Andromeda had opened her mouth to answer, probably with the truth. But she saw the look on Bellatrix's face and decided that it was best for both of them that she kept quiet and played along. Mrs Gable raised a brow and looked terribly suspicious. While Andromeda quivered slightly at the thought of what would come next, she had forgotten Bellatrix's place in the household and the very useful authority she had over Mrs Gable. 

"We're going back to sleep now," Bellatrix announced and roughly grabbed Andromeda's wrist. 

She proudly walked past Mrs Gable without as much as a "Good night" and dragged Andromeda with her. Although Andromeda didn't mind getting away from the old nanny, she couldn't help but wonder what had caused Bellatrix to get so scared and why she had yet to tell her anything about it. After a while they entered Andromeda's room, which was the first of the bedrooms that they got to. 

"Hey…" Bellatrix started just as Andromeda opened the door to her room. She even surprised herself with the soft tone of her voice. "Um… would it be okay if I could sleep in there tonight? My room is cold… the window won't shut properly." 

"Sure," Andromeda answered immediately. 

Not for a moment did she believe what Bellatrix had just said. Yet she let Bellatrix think that and promised herself to not ask anything until Bellatrix told her herself. As Andromeda went to bed, she thought that if something had happened that was enough to scare her older sister, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what it was. 


	4. Gryffindor indeed

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**Sisters Three**   
**Chapter 4: Gryffindors indeed**

_Note: A short chapter this time... kind of like a filler. I wanted to start on other things but decided to do that in the next chapter instead. I hope it's readable anyway. :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
  
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The following days were rather uneventful for the sisters. Relatives came by with expensive Christmas presents for them and left well wishes for their father who had yet to come home. The sisters spent most of the days doing whatever they wanted, whether it was having snowball fights outside or ordering the house elves to redecorate rooms until their hearts' content. Surprisingly, most of the time Mrs Gable kept herself out of sight. In the evening they snuggled up together in a warm couch in front of the fireplace. Narcissa usually sat and worked on sketches of white princes while Andromeda read aloud from one of her books. Bellatrix would sit and half listen, half complain about Andromeda's odd taste in books. But most of the time she was silent, staring into the fire and there were times Andromeda and Narcissa wondered where her mind drifted.

It was only the day before New Years Eve that Tiberius Black came home. He was weary and looked tired, then again none of the sisters could remember him being anything else ever since their mother died. Even though Tiberius had never been the warm, doting father they had all wished for his presence at the manor was most welcome. Narcissa and Andromeda even caught Bellatrix on her way to Tiberius' study with a tray of butterbeer and cookies one late night when Tiberius was still up. But whatever hope they had had of parental bonding there simply wasn't any time for. New Years Eve was spent at a ball, one that they weren't old enough to attend. Instead they had been stuck with the other "children", although Bellatrix and Narcissa protested wildly. The following days Tiberius spent visiting many different, unknown people and when he came home he sat down with the girls briefly for dinner before retreating to his study.

As disappointed as they were, Narcissa mostly, it was nothing new to them and on the train back to Hogwarts it was all already forgotten about. Bellatrix hadn't made up with Rod yet but had Jennie to talk to and both Andromeda and Narcissa had gone to catch up with their friends. Things settled down as they came back to Hogwarts and both Bellatrix and Andromeda quickly forgot about that strange night before Christmas.

But some things weren't so easily forgotten, a fact that Narcissa rediscovered around Valentine's Day. She had gotten up one morning, gone to the Great Hall for breakfast and discovered that once in a while people would glance at her and snicker. It didn't take long for her to discover that someone had sent a Valentine card to Gus Broderick, a third year Ravenclaw with a face full of pimples, and signed it with her name.

"I wish that they would just stop," Narcissa sighed and covered her face with her hands in shame.

Helen gave her a comforting pat on the back while using her other hand to spoon up some cereal. The small group of Gryffindor girls seemed to be very proud of themselves as they sat on the far end of the Gryffindor table. Rod and Winston, who happened to be sitting nearby and had heard Narcissa, moved a little closer to her.

"You should get back at them," Rod suggested.

"How?" Narcissa asked.

She didn't get an answer because the next moment Bellatrix had arrived. She sat down between Narcissa and Rod, boldly pushing Rod away to make more room for herself. Rod glared at her and it was only then that Narcissa remembered the fight they had had before Christmas. It had started with something as trivial as homework and Rod's accidental misuse of a spell had caused Bellatrix to suddenly end up looking like a hybrid of a toad and a horse. Narcissa looked at both Bellatrix and Rod curiously and wondered why they still were not talking to each other. It had been a few months after all.

"Win, pass me the butter?" Bellatrix asked.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and Winston just looked puzzled at her request. The butter was out of reach for him but almost right beside Rod. Before Winston could attempt to reach for the butter Rod had grabbed it and pushed it away from him so that it was out of anyone's reach. In fact, he did such good job at it that the butter bowl slid off the table and fell to the floor. A loud sigh came from Bellatrix.

"Oh great!" she exclaimed. "The great Rodolphus Lestrange does it again!"

"As opposed to the oh-so-talented Bellatrix Black who can't even transfigure a slug properly?!"

"It was moving around!" Bellatrix yelled back defensively, her face starting go red out of anger.

"It was SLUG!" Rod shouted, empathising the last word of the sentence. "How fast can it move anyway?"

Narcissa tried desperately to hold back her laughter at this, especially when Bellatrix heard her and shot her a quick but intense glare. If there was anything Bellatrix hated it was when her ego getting bruised. She stood up, hand in her pocket and about to pull out her wand when a strong hand gripped her arm tightly. A frown formed on Bellatrix's face and as she turned around to see who it was Narcissa found herself blushing and letting out a quiet gasp.

It was him... Lucius Malfoy.

"Keep it down you two," Lucius said warningly and did not let go of Bellatrix's hand. He cast a worried glance towards the teachers' table before giving both Bellatrix and Rod an angry glare. Narcissa thought that she was going to die. "Wouldn't want to lose more points, would we?"

"And who's going to beat us?" Rod questioned confidently. "Hufflepuff?"

"Just save it until after the teachers are gone," Lucius answered. He let go of Bellatrix and then started to make his way towards the exit. The dark robe he wore rose slightly as he walked, causing Narcissa to let out a contented sigh.

When Lucius had walked out of Narcissa's sigh, she turned her attention back to her breakfast and her not so pleasant company. Bellatrix and Rod were eating peacefully, their previous fight already forgotten.

"What a bore," Rod muttered.

"Agreed," Bellatrix replied and reached for the marmalade. Narcissa rolled her eyes at them.

"You two are such babies," she said and picked up her book bag. She had not eaten anything yet, but her appetite was gone. "Just because you two are more concerned about fighting over stupid things than winning the house cup..."

"Oh be quiet," Bellatrix snapped. "Before Malfoy comes back and takes off points for excessive nagging."

For the third time this morning, Narcissa rolled her eyes. She promptly left the table without as much as a word to her sister, Rod or Helen. Her front teeth sunk into her bottom lip and she was sure that her cheeks had turned slightly red out of anger. She had just tried to talk some sense into Bellatrix and Rod and an insult was what she got for it.

_Sisters can be so ungrateful,_ Narcissa thought, feeling very much above Bellatrix as she headed up the stairs for her first class.

* * *

"The jobberknoll feathers are used for…" Bellatrix spoke aloud as she hastily wrote down the words on the parchment. Suddenly she stopped writing and a confused look appeared on her face. "Used for what?"

"It's used for serums and potions," Andromeda answered only a split second later. She reached for another parchment since hers had already been filled up. "It's also widely used in memory potions and in..."

"Here," Bellatrix cut off, pushing her unfinished Potions homework towards Andromeda. "Write it."

Andromeda smiled briefly at Bellatrix, then opened a thick book and quickly flipped a few pages before she resumed writing. She never took her eyes off the book, in fact she kept reading without having to focus entirely on writing at the same time.

"No thanks," Andromeda answered. "I think I have enough work to do."

"You're a Ravenclaw, you're supposed to fall down on your knees and thank me for giving you the chance to do homework that you won't get until next year," Bellatrix retorted. She caught sight on the enormous pile of books that Andromeda had taken from the bookshelves at the library. "What are you writing about anyway?"

"Oh, just something for History of Magic," Andromeda told. "We have to write about a rebellion... as usual."

Bellatrix just shrugged, remembering that she had a few essays of her own in History of Magic to complete after she was done with her Potions homework. She picked up her quill and was just about to continue doing her homework when she caught sight on one of the books that Andromeda had borrowed.

_"Famous wizards and their painty counterparts."_

The word paint suddenly brought Bellatrix back to the night before Christmas, when she had followed the noises she had heard and had that unexpected encounter with her mother's portrait. The memory of the scream and Desdemona's face sent a small shiver through her. Without thinking Bellatrix reached for the book and quietly drew it towards her. One glance at Andromeda assured her that Andromeda was too busy with her essay to notice anything. Feeling a little more secure in that she wouldn't be watched, Bellatrix opened the book.

The first few pages merely contained a boring introduction and the list of content was extremely vague. Frowning, Bellatrix turned all the way to the last few pages and the index. There she stopped again, as it occurred to her that she was not sure of what she was looking for.

Screams? Distorted faces? Mothers? Insanity?

Out of the few words she could search for, insanity was the only one that came up with a result. The only thing the book said about insanity was about a Norwegian wizard who's self portrait had run amok and disturbed the other paintings in the house greatly. Unfortunately, the original wizard himself had been insane and apparently he had been too good at painting a copy of himself.

Bellatrix slammed the book shut, causing Andromeda to jump in her seat.

"What was that all about?" Andromeda asked, slightly irritated at being disturbed.

"Nothing," Bellatrix muttered. She simply gathered her things, got up and marched out of the library as quickly as possible. Andromeda watched her leave then turned back to her essay, shaking her head.

Bellatrix was well aware of Andromeda's irritation, even though she had not stuck around long enough to truly confirm it. Perhaps she was frustrated because of the lack of information but Andromeda's irritation disturbed her and against her own will dug into her mind.

_She wasn't the one who saw mother screaming with that disgusting face,_ Bellatrix thought to herself.

Moments later she reminded herself that what she had seen had not been her mother, but merely a portrait. Still, it bothered her. Her mother had been dead for years, leaving Bellatrix with a distinct memory of an elegant and poised woman who could even scold her and be graceful at the same time. Why had that portrait become so different from Bellatrix's memory? So erratic, so…

_Frightening._

Bellatrix nearly stopped in her tracks as she thought of that word. Frightening. She had been scared that night. Scared of her own mother. The image of the gentle woman had been replaced by the image of the screaming one. Already before the incident her memories of her mother had started to fade, after all it had been over six years since it happened. Another frightening thought, equal to the thought of the portrait, started to creep inside her as she watched the flickering flames of the torches on the castle walls. Who was to say that her mother had really been that calm and gentle woman she remembered?

_I am not scared!_ Bellatrix suddenly thought and continued to walk.

Her footsteps echoed in the hallway, empty on people and ghosts except herself. The faster she walked, the more she started to tell herself the same thing over and over again. She was not scared. She was just being silly about the whole thing. Magical things failed over the years, the same thing could apply to portraits. She would write to her father and ask him to take care of it. Have the painting repaired or taken away.

There was nothing to be scared of.

"What are you skulking around here for?"

"Yeah, did little Cissy get lost?"

Bellatrix looked up just as she heard a round of giggles. Normally she would not care less about who was giggling and who was the target of the teasings. But the moment she heard "Cissy" her eyes widened and her body seemed to go on red alert. She didn't even have the time to think the thought, instead she dropped all her things and practically bolted around the corner and to the source of all the voices.

It was Narcissa, surrounded by a group of girls and just by looking at their robes Bellatrix knew that those were the same Gryffindors who Narcissa had told her about. One uncomfortable look on Narcissa's face was enough to send Bellatrix into a state of anger. Her entire body suddenly seemed to become warm.

"Get away from her... now," Bellatrix ordered, empathising the last word clearly.

To her enormous surprise, none of the Gryffindors moved. Instead they looked at her as if trying to gain some kind of understanding. One of them, who seemed to be missing a large chunk of hair on her head stepped forwards and spoke.

"But she put a dead toad in my bag!" the girl protested, as if expecting sympathy from Bellatrix side.

It puzzled her a little, these girls didn't seem to have any idea of who she was. Narcissa stood quietly against the wall and watched, equally puzzled. Realizing what was wrong, Bellatrix reached up and drew her long hair back, revealing the green Slytherin badge on her robes. She felt some satisfaction in seeing two of the girls looking somewhat scared upon seeing the badge.

"See this badge? If you don't know already, it means: I don't give a DAMN!"

It hardly took three seconds before all the girls were out of sight. Bellatrix released her hair, thinking that she wouldn't have minded chasing after them and throwing a hex or two. But instead she walked over to Narcissa, who just stared curiously at her.

"You alright?" Bellatrix asked after a while. Narcissa nodded.

"You know… they didn't really do anything to me," she pointed out. "Just cornered me, that's all."

"I knew that."

Feeling a little stupid for overreacting, Bellatrix turned around and started to walk back to get her things. She didn't even say anything as Narcissa followed her. As proud of herself as she was for scaring those Gryffindor girls off by just shouting, she wasn't about to let Narcissa know how just the thought of Narcissa being threatened had caused her to go into attack mode.

"It's late, we should get back," Narcissa suggested.

Bellatrix simply nodded as she picked up her Potions homework and quill. They turned around and walked back into the same corridor but had hardly gone three steps into it when they found out that they weren't alone. Standing a few meters away, facing them directly where the same Gryffindor girls. But this time they were more or less hiding behind two others.

They were both Gryffindors and in Bellatrix's own year, she could tell that right away. One of them was Connor Matheson, a tall and confident boy who was in her Astronomy class and played Quidditch. The other she quickly realized that she knew nothing about. He had too short hair and in the dark Bellatrix could hardly make out his face. But the girl who had stood up and tried to talk to Bellatrix before was hiding behind him. Bellatrix raised one eyebrow, looking at both boys curiously. She would have crossed her arms if not for the fact that the quill and her homework were still in her hands.

"Should have known…" Connor started. "A Slytherin to pick on our first years."

"Stay away from them," the other boy warned seriously.

"Someone needs to get their facts straight," Bellatrix said sweetly, mocking them with her voice. "The way I remember it, your darling little girls cornered my sister."

Behind her, Narcissa uncomfortably shifted her book bag from one shoulder to the other. Knowing Narcissa, Bellatrix figured that she probably thought that this was going to end up in a fight.

"That's not what they told us," the other boy said.

"And they say Gryffindors are known for their bravery..." Bellatrix retorted, gesturing towards the girls who were hiding behind him and Connor.

"David," the girl whined, tugging at the unknown Gryffindor boy whose name was apparently David. He just gave her a quick look and looked at Bellatrix again. As their eyes met each other, it occurred to Bellatrix how strikingly blue they were. She had never seen such blue eyes before.

_Like a bad poem,_ Bellatrix thought cynically and silently reminded herself of how silly it sounded. Standing around there talking to Connor and David didn't seem to go anywhere. Either they had no intention at getting back at her for scaring their little first years or they were really bad at showing it.

"Are you done now?" Bellatrix asked, although she didn't wait for an answer. Instead she took Narcissa's hand. "Let's go."

She started to walk through the corridor and past the entire group of Gryffindors, dragging Narcissa with her. Just when they were about to turn to the left and go around the corner, Connor's voice sounded through the corridors.

"If you ever bother them again, I swear I'll..."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes at the lame threat and simply chose to ignore it.

_Gryffindors indeed._


End file.
